Religious Question

[Troublco]

You make strong points, and of course I haven't had the time to look too much into either religion. With that said, what do you have to say about the change in tone from the Old Testament and the New Testament? I haven't gotten to the new testament yet, so I'm not real familiar with how they are different.

The Old Testament was pre-Christ. You could only go to heaven if you were without sin, which was impossible because Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, OR if you made sacrifices to God such as an animal. The animal, such as a lamb, stood in for you and died in your place to cover your sins (the "blood of the lamb"). The new Testament is after God sent Christ. The "deal" changed then; Christ was without sin but died for ours. So he made it so that people don't have to be perfect to be able to go to heaven. Christ was the sacrifice, hence the "lamb of God".

[car-15]

Hey.
Oh, thanks... but I'm not interested... but hey, have a great day.



http://www.mysecuritysign.com/MSS/No...ing_Signs.aspx

I live in a gated community, and they have a sign like the one above at all the gates, and they still come knocking 1-2 times a year, I just tell them if they were not able to read the sign at the gate where they came in, the police will be glad to read it to them while they write them a trespassing ticket... and I already called them when I seen you pull up, and they usually get to the exit rather fast.

[Elhuero]

Not exactly. They have changed some basic tenets of Christian beliefs to make their version their own. It isn't basic Christianity with a couple updates, there are some significant differences. I'm not saying this to bash them, and I'm not saying they're not good folks. I know a few myself.

I will say this: if you start looking into some of their history, there are some areas they really don't like outsiders to get into, like Brother Brigham's avenging angels for example. And their dispensing with the polygamy thing had more to do with better fitting into society than deciding that there was something wrong with it.

Oh yeah, like what?

(I'm just curious what kind of crap about mormons you've heard that you think is true)

You want a doctrinal tussle? I won't play. We used to call it bible bashing, and it's a bloody waste of time. You can't prove to anyone the truthfullness of anything. They have to decide it for themselves.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has something else no other religion on the planet has. The Book of Mormon.

If it's a true book, then the religion is true. If it's not, it's not.

Anyone can find out for themselves if it true or not, by reading it and then praying and asking God if it is.

Mormons believe that this life is a time to learn and grow, and the most important thing we poses is our agency, our freedom to choose, and we grow closer to God by choosing to do good and by following the example that was left by Jesus Christ.

If the truth of a religion was provable it would kindof defeat the purpose, dontcha think?

I laugh at atheists. They look at the stars, and dig in the ground and decide for themselves how they think things are, and pat themselves on the back for being so smart. The same folks that thought for hundreds of years that the sun revolved around the flat earth. But I digress......

If the missionaries come to your door and you're not interested, just say no thanks. Don't be a douche.

I'm LDS. I served a mission, and went around knocking on people's doors. It was the most rewarding thing I've done in my life so far. Now I'm what they'd call "less active" Why? because I like to sin too much.

Most of the word of mouth ideas that people hear about the church is false.

There have always been anti-Mormons, since the whole thing first started. Every single one I've met or heard about had a personal beef with the church or someone in it, or was pushing their own brand of religion.

oh and btw....polygamy is illegal in this country. Anybody know why?

Because the latter day saints were doing it.

They didn't give it up because they wanted to 'fit in', they were trying to avoid being exterminated by the government.

and people still wank about it over 100 years later.

If in your beliefs you have to attack and/or bash Mormons to please God, then maybe you need to brush up on your bible. Try Matthew chapter 7 to start.

[jake]

and people still wank about it over 100 years later.

Quick hijack, what do you mean by 'wank'?

[SA Friday]

A religion discussion... Nothing good can come from this. Religion is pure faith, and no other origin of philosophy has molded societies moral structures more than the predominant religion of the realm.

Respecting anothers religious beliefs is as far as I go, but given freely and quite logical in the long run. I fought in Iraq with a muslim on one side of me and a jew on the other. We would have died for each other and religion had nothing to do with it. It was the respect. When they were both fasting for Ramadan and Yom Kippur (at the same time, ironically), nobody in the unit ate or drank in their presence, period. It didn't take an order either.

"No thank you. Have a nice day." That's all it takes.

[SA Friday]

BTW, there's a huge difference between the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It's a pretty big difference...

[Troublco]

Oh yeah, like what?

(I'm just curious what kind of crap about mormons you've heard that you think is true)

You want a doctrinal tussle? I won't play. We used to call it bible bashing, and it's a bloody waste of time. You can't prove to anyone the truthfullness of anything. They have to decide it for themselves.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has something else no other religion on the planet has. The Book of Mormon.

If it's a true book, then the religion is true. If it's not, it's not.

Anyone can find out for themselves if it true or not, by reading it and then praying and asking God if it is.

Mormons believe that this life is a time to learn and grow, and the most important thing we poses is our agency, our freedom to choose, and we grow closer to God by choosing to do good and by following the example that was left by Jesus Christ.

If the truth of a religion was provable it would kindof defeat the purpose, dontcha think?

I laugh at atheists. They look at the stars, and dig in the ground and decide for themselves how they think things are, and pat themselves on the back for being so smart. The same folks that thought for hundreds of years that the sun revolved around the flat earth. But I digress......

If the missionaries come to your door and you're not interested, just say no thanks. Don't be a douche.

I'm LDS. I served a mission, and went around knocking on people's doors. It was the most rewarding thing I've done in my life so far. Now I'm what they'd call "less active" Why? because I like to sin too much.

Most of the word of mouth ideas that people hear about the church is false.

There have always been anti-Mormons, since the whole thing first started. Every single one I've met or heard about had a personal beef with the church or someone in it, or was pushing their own brand of religion.

oh and btw....polygamy is illegal in this country. Anybody know why?

Because the latter day saints were doing it.

They didn't give it up because they wanted to 'fit in', they were trying to avoid being exterminated by the government.

and people still wank about it over 100 years later.

If in your beliefs you have to attack and/or bash Mormons to please God, then maybe you need to brush up on your bible. Try Matthew chapter 7 to start.

No, I don't want a doctrinal tussle, although that looks like exactly what you're doing. You're right, everyone has to decide for themselves what they believe is true. The Jews don't believe that the Christians are right, the non-LDS Christians don't think the Mormons are right, etc. ad nauseum. You could go for hours on this.

I agree with what you say about atheists. But that's for them to decide.

I don't push my religion on anyone. I don't mind if you're Mormon, and someone else is an atheist, and someone else is a pagan. Each to their own. I might not agree with them, but they are entitled to their opinion/view.

And if you got down to brass tacks, wouldn't you classify changing your beliefs to be trying to fit in? The Romans did a job on the early Christians to try to make them fit in, and untold numbers of them died for their beliefs. You say the Mormons abandoned polygamy so they wouldn't be "exterminated" by the Government. Now the Mormon church says they don't believe in it or accept it. So if the Muslims took over the country and started trying to exterminate the Mormons (and every other non-Muslim religion here) would the Mormons convert to Islam? I'm not trying to be contentious, I'm genuinely curious.

I was simply saying that I don't believe that Joseph Smith or Brigham Young are my prophets, and that as I understand it Mormons have differences in their beliefs such as their concept of Heaven (which is significantly different than what is in the King James Bible) as it has been explained to me by a MORMON. Doesn't mean you're wrong, doesn't mean I'm right. I'm saying your beliefs are not mine, and I don't believe they are simply a "More Modern" version. They are a different version; they are your version.

You want to lecture me on what I need to do? Go ahead. Lecture all you want; I'm fine with that. I'm not sitting here trying to make Stuart believe what I believe, or trying to please God in what I was saying. I was expressing my opinion. You have the freedom to do the same.

[Irving]

I have a question. I'm under the impression that the King James Bible is just a version of the Bible that was edited by King James to fit his whims. How can people take that seriously? I suspect there is more to it than that, so I'd like to hear what people have to say about it.

[KevDen2005]

Sounds like you need Jesus!

[tmckay2]

depends on the person/religion. if you follow what the bible says and are a true believer (ie, don't have just blind faith but actually have experiences to back it up) then sharing the Gospel is simply what you think everyone needs to hear. i mean think about it, it may annoy you (believe me i can understand why) but in reality they are just hoping that you will have what they have: the promise of eternal life and a relationship with your creator. now if you don't agree with their beliefs, this will seem annoying to you, and like i said, understandably so. but in general it really is with good intentions.

for others, as previously stated by other posters, its a requirement. now its true in the bible it says to share your faith but it is not a requirement, simply something you should feel obligated to do based on what you have been given. other spin offs will say that you have to to go to heaven, etc, but there is nothing to really back that up.